Thoothukudi, May 28: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Monday said here that the government will take necessary steps to permanently shut down the copper smelter plant of Vedanta Ltd, popularly known as Sterlite Copper.

Pannerselvam visited the hospital here and enquired about the health of those injured in the police firing on anti-Sterlite Copper protestors on May 22, in which 13 persons died.

The Deputy Chief Minister was speaking to reporters here and he also added that compensation to the injured were being paid.

Normalcy was slowly returning here with shops and other establishments opening their doors for customers.

Internet connectivity has also resumed since Sunday midnight after it was suspended on May 23.

"Shops are open now. Normalcy is returning. But till the copper smelter plant is permanently closed there will not be total peace in the city," S. Raja of Thoothukudi Traders Association told IANS.

Raja also said murder charge should be registered against the police officials who shot the protestors.

According to Raja, post mortem has been done on seven bodies out of the 13 who were killed in the police firing. However, the relatives have not claimed the bodies yet.

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Patna, Dec 26: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Thursday slammed the BJP over alleged heckling of a woman artist who sang a bhajan, known to be a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, at a function organised on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee a day ago.

The RJD supremo, on his X handle, alleged that the BJP leaders had taken exception to the phrase 'Sita Ram' and asked the singer to apologise before erupting in roars of "Jai Shri Ram".

The well-attended function was held on Wednesday at Bapu Sabhagar, a sprawling state-of-the-art auditorium in the heart of the city.

The septuagenarian alleged that the incident was "reflective of the misogyny that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar was known for" and its "disdain for females was resulting in disrespect for 'Sita Mata'."

However, BJP sources, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that the newspaper report shared by Prasad in an earlier tweet clearly stated that the furore was not over 'Sita Ram', but the subsequent stanza - 'Ishwar Allah Tero Naam'.

The sources claimed that party workers were opposed to the "recital of a line that was not part of the original verse composed by 15th-century poet Narsi Mehta, but inserted later, apparently in line with Gandhi's Hindu-Muslim unity plank".